Falco Still The Leader Of The Pack

April 6, 1986|By Jan DeKnock, Chicago Tribune

Austria's reigning pop star, Falco, is again king of America's pop chart, because his ''Rock Me Amadeus'' was able to hold off songs by two Midwestern men -- John Cougar Mellencamp and Prince -- for another week at No. 1.

And, Falco made significant moves on two other lists: His Falco 3 LP jumped three notches to No. 8 on the album chart, and on the black/urban singles' chart, ''Rock Me Amadeus'' zipped from No. 16 to No. 10, making Falco one of the few foreign acts ever to crack that Top 10. Another who did it was Scottish singer Sheena Easton, whose ''Sugar Walls'' hit the Top 5 on the black/urban chart last year.

Mention of ''Sugar Walls'' brings us to the diverse chart accomplishments of its writer, ''Alexander Nevermind'' (better known as Prince), who has not one but two hit songs in this week's pop Top 10.

The first, of course, is ''Kiss,'' which moved from No. 5 to No. 3 and is on track for No. 1 next week. (''Kiss'' is already No. 1 on the black/urban list.) The other is the Bangles' No. 7 song, ''Manic Monday,'' whose author -- a fellow listed simply as ''Christopher'' -- is also Prince.

Next time, look for Prince to have an even better week on the chart, with ''Kiss'' moving up to No. 1 and ''Manic Monday'' breaking into the Top 5. But to do that, ''Kiss'' will have to move past Mellencamp's very strong ''R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A..''

Pick hits of the week: The powerful ''Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight'' is the third straight winner from Starship's Knee Deep in the Hoopla LP, and the breezy ''Move Away'' is the first release from Culture Club's From Luxury to Heartache album. Look for both ''Tomorrow'' and ''Move Away'' to move quickly into the Top 10.